


Insane is such a mean word, I prefer mentally creative

by reminus



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Abused Harry Potter, And I will, BAMF Luna Lovegood, Cute Kids, Good Slytherins, Harry Needs a Hug, I want to give him that hug, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Insane Harry, Manipulative Albus Dumbledore, Morally Grey Harry Potter, Multi, Sane Tom Riddle, Slytherin Harry Potter, Tom Riddle's Diary
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-04
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:40:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26288893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reminus/pseuds/reminus
Summary: Harry has struggled for 10 years and when he finally has a chance to get away from all of that, he takes it. Unfortunately, he doesn't come out unscathed. Join us on a journey we will be taking with Harry Potter and get ready to cheer him on through all the highs and lows he will be running into during Hogwarts.PS: I love reviews and I will appreciate some constructive criticism so don't be shy ;)Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine no matter how much I wish it was.update: discontinued for now
Relationships: Harry Potter & Blaise Zabini, Harry Potter & Original Character(s), Harry Potter & Tom Riddle, Hermione Granger & Harry Potter, Hermione Granger & Luna Lovegood, Hermione Granger/Blaise Zabini, Luna Lovegood & Harry Potter, Luna Lovegood/Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom & Harry Potter, Theodore Nott & Harry Potter
Comments: 19
Kudos: 89





	1. Prologue

_Dementophobia: the fear of being insane or losing touch with reality_  


**Journal Entry:** I don't consider myself insane, not really. It’s like when you wake up in the morning without sleeping. Others won’t consider that really “waking up”. They say I did not sleep so what is there to wake up from. They don’t realize that when it becomes night and everything goes quiet, so does my mind. It becomes so quiet that I decide why sleep when my mind is finally at peace and without the thoughts that so recklessly fly around my head and keep me from relaxing. When my mind goes quiet in the night, I find myself unable to sleep because I never know when I will get another chance to relax like this. So when the sun comes up and people begin to wake up, so do I. I might not be waking up from a slumber, but I am waking up the part of my mind that is loud and chaotic. I don’t find that to be an insane thing. I just find it to be different from what other people consider normal. They might categorize myself as insane but I simply see myself as someone who works differently.

_Wake-up: an instance of a person waking up or being woken up_

Eyes blankly peered up at the ceiling of a small cupboard. Somewhere in the house an alarm was going off. Hearing the sounds of a house waking up, Harry decided to sit up on his old mattress and wait to be allowed out. With the waking of the rest of the world, or at least the rest of his timezone, Harry could feel the closed off part of his brain unravel. With that, his thoughts left their peaceful state and it became a chaotic and loud place for him.

_When are they going to let me **out**._

_Is Dudley dead yet?_

_I’m hungry._

The flurry of his thoughts allowed the waking of Harrison and with that Harry decided to leave his mind and block all of the noise out. Harrison was another part of his mind that others probably wouldn’t consider normal. Harry cannot recall when Harrison became. All he knows is Harrison just is. It is not a matter of who, when, where, or why because Harrison just is. Blinking out of his thoughts, Harry exited his mind and allowed a haze to surround it instead. With that, he drowned his thoughts out.

Looking up when a stream of light hit his face, his eyes met the eyes of his Aunt Petunia’s own sharp ones. Her narrow face and pointed nose did not help her sharp features. Aunt Petunia roughly grabbed his arm and wrenched him out of the small and dusty cupboard. 

Wincing while his eyes adjusted to the change from his dark cupboard to the bright house, he glanced around at the picture perfect interior of the house he would never call home. 4 Privet Drive was home to the Dursleys, but Harry would never call it his own. He might be the one who kept it clean and organized, but it will never be welcome to him. Not as long as the Dursleys lived there.

Loud thumps were heard as the pig known as Dudley Dursley stomped down the stairs with a petulant look on his face. His fat face formed into one of disgust as he looked down at Harry. Harry’s height had been stunted due to the malnutrition he suffered from at the Dursleys. The most he would ever get from the Dursleys was their leftovers even though he was the one who cooked their meals from. 

Harry glared at Dudley with contempt before remembering himself and trying to look meek in front of him. It wouldn't do well for him if he was ever caught being “ungrateful”.

“Mum,” Dudley whined, “I’m hungry!”

“Don’t worry Duddy dear,” Petunia cooed, “You’ll get your food soon enough. What do you want to eat?”

“I want a lot of pancakes! I also want chocolate chips on them. And syrup!” He demanded.

“Well?” Petunia sneered to Harry, “What are you waiting for, freak.”

Harry glared at her before going to the kitchen and pulling out a stool. Holding himself back from sneering back any insults, Harry continued to grab some pans and looking in the pantry for some pancake mix. He only paused when he felt himself get slapped on the back of the head.

“Hurry up, boy!” Vernon Dursley bellowed, “I have an important meeting today and I refuse to have my mood ruined by some FREAK!”

Harry felt himself flinch at the yelling and with a tense back he turned to continue cooking the breakfast. He couldn’t relax when he knew Vernon was in the same room as him and could attack him at any time. 

_You could always just kill him_ , whispered Harrison. 

In the back of his mind was where you would find Harrison. Harry wouldn’t call him the dark or evil part of Harry’s mind. It’s more of the dangerous or subconscious part of his mind. Harrison was always there, quietly watching what was happening through Harry’s mind. Sometimes Harrison would take over for Harry when it became too much. Harry loved Harrison and considered him a brother. He could only hope Harrison loved him too. He could get dark and dangerous, but Harrison did care for Harry.

Harry continued to stir the pancake batter absentmindedly. His eyes lost their focus behind his round glasses and he felt himself move around in a haze. It was as if he was just watching himself make the pancakes but wasn’t actually doing it himself. He silently thanked Harrison for allowing him to drift. He was tired from another night of no sleep and didn’t bother trying to take back control. 

‘Thanks for taking over, Harrison,’ Harry mumbled in his head

_Mhm_ , Harrison replied with a hum, _You should start sleeping more. You’ve been getting worse when it comes to sleep._

Harry didn’t bother replying and just dozed off inside his head while Harrison started adding chocolate chips to the pancake batter and buttering up the pan he was going to fry them in. Harry just allowed himself to drift off into his dreams. 

Harrison was starting to plate the pancakes and set the table when Dudley had suddenly stomped in. Looking up, Harrison noted the new clothes Dudley was wearing. He must’ve bought them yesterday when he went shopping with Petunia. Raising an eyebrow up at Dudley, he waited for Dudley to do whatever he had come here to do. 

“Mum told me to give you your list of chores,” Dudley said with a smug look on his face, “She let me add to the list.”

Harrison silently grabbed the list Dudley was waving in his face and didn’t bother with a response. Realizing Harrison wasn’t going to say anything else, Dudley left the kitchen with a sneer and bumped into the table on the way. A glass vase with flowers in it started to veer dangerously to the left and cause Harrison to lunge over and catch it before it could hit the ground and shatter. Glaring at Dudley’s back while he left the room, Harrison went to arrange the vase back onto the table and put it in the middle. He stuffed the list into his back pocket and then continued setting the table.

10 minutes later he was plating the food and was done with breakfast. Making sure everything was as it was supposed to be, Harrison left to go get the Dursleys for breakfast while absentmindedly scratching the back of his head. 

“Breakfast is ready,” Harrison called out.

Dudley’s loud footsteps could be heard running down the stairs from his room. Harrison felt his mouth pull into a sneer at the state Dudley was in and without another thought he spun around and left the kitchen before he could be seen. The Dursley’s didn’t like seeing him so when he was done with breakfast all he had to do was call for them and then silently disappear.

Harrison pulled out the list of chores Petunia had sent him and with a sigh he pulled himself back into Harry’s head. He felt his energy deplete and silently sent Harry some goodluck before falling back silently and allowing Harry to take control once again.

Harry blinked and flexed his finger to make sure he was back in control. Sending his silent thanks to Harrison, he glanced down at the list of chores in his hand. 

_Mow the lawn_

_Take care of the weeds_

_Sweep all the floors_

_Mop all the floors_

_Wash the car_

_Etc_..

Harry robotically went and grabbed the hose to start washing the car like he always did. After doing all these chores everyday for the past 10 years, he’s developed muscle memory. He barely has to think about what he has to do. He just does it. He let himself zone out while he was doing all the chores and methodically checked them off the list. 

Sweat poured down Harry’s face and he panted in the sun while trying to get rid of all the weeds in the Dursley’s front yard. Laying down, he took a minute to catch his breath. Harry’s head turned and he felt his cheek hit the cool grass underneath. His green eyes glanced over to where they saw the rustling of some grass and he got up to his knees and peered down at a small green snake. Harry felt a smile grow on his face.

_Hellooo Ssssimonn_ , Harry hissed in delight.

_Greetingsss Ssspeaker_ , the snake hissed back.

Lifting himself up, Simon reached up to nuzzle Harry’s face. Harry could feel Harrison’s excitement at seeing the snake and smiled fondly. 

_Harrisssson ssays hi_ , whispered Harry.

Harry reached down with his hand and allowed the snake to wrap itself around his hand. Harry had never bothered to question how he could speak to snakes. He already knew he was a freak, but he sometimes appreciated his freak powers. Without them he probably would’ve been dead already. Just another reason to loathe the Dursleys.

The snakes always called him speaker. He’s met a lot of snakes and found they are probably his favorite type of animal in the world. They are easy to please and they shared a mutual love for each other. He rarely found a snake that didn’t like him and after being hated for so long he couldn’t help but feel sad when that happened. Harrison was always quick to reassure him though. Harrison says it isn’t Harry’s fault but after so long Harry doesn’t doubt that it is. 

Hearing the door of 14 Privet Drive open causes Harry to hurriedly hide Simon into a bush and then continue to take out the weeds. Harry was protective over snakes and he doesn’t know what would happen if the Dursleys found out about him nor did he care to find out. Looking up he saw Vernon Dursley sneer at him before waddling over to the car Harry had washed. Climbing in, Dursley cast one more sneer back at Harry before turning it on and driving away.

A few minutes later Petunia opened the door and walked over to inspect what Harry has been doing. With a glare she began to point out a few more weeds for him to pull out before sending Harry back inside with a slap to the back of his head for taking so long. 

Rubbing the back of his head, Harry continued down the hall until he was pushed into the cupboard by Petunia.

“You can come out when it’s time for you to make lunch,” she sneered, “I don’t want to see any of your freakish business.”

While his eyes adjusted to the sudden dark of the cupboard when the door was slammed shut, Harry allowed himself to pull himself back into his mind. His eyes dimmed and he was rewarded with the sight of a small light floating in his hand. Harry smiled to himself and awkwardly tried to shift himself so that he was lying down on the old mattress that he had. With his hand he forced a book to fly towards. He catched it and read the title of The Knight’s Palace. Sighing in resignation he brought himself to read it again for the tenth time and decided he could steal a book from Dudley’s room later.


	2. Hogwarts Letter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've noticed people have already started reading my story and that makes me so unbelievably happy. You guys have no idea. Anyways, here's the next chapter! Enjoy - RM
> 
> Warnings: Mild child abuse

_Drapetomania: an overwhelming urge to run away_

**Journal Entry:** People always say running away from your problems won’t solve them. I beg to differ. People who say that have never really had a problem that they’d want to run away from. Or if they did, then it was only because they were weak when it came down to it. I’ve always wanted to run away and I don’t care if that makes me weak because I’d rather be weak and a survivor than strong and dead.

_Weak: lacking the power to perform physically demanding tasks; lacking physical strength and energy; liable to break or give way under pressure; easily damaged_

_Strong: having the power to move heavy weights or perform other physically demanding tasks; able to withstand great force or pressure._

Harry could feel his eyes widen in shock at the letter he was holding in his hands. His knees felt weak and he suddenly found himself breathing heavily. He didn’t understand why he had a letter or what to do and after another night of no rest he felt too overwhelmed to accomplish much and found himself on the verge of passing out. 

Harrison, sensing this, immediately took control and narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the innocent letter that sat in his hands. Harrison was surprised at the fact that there was a letter addressed to him and couldn't help but feel it was too good to be true. After not being able to rest fully, Harry was becoming very weak and Harrison has been finding himself taking over more and more. He swallowed back his concern for Harry and with a frown on his face he stuffed the letter into his pocket and took the rest inside to Vernon. The obese looking man grabbed the letters out of Harrison's hand with his grubby hands and looked as though he was going to start beating the child at any moment. Harrison cautiously excused himself quickly by saying Petunia needed him for something just in case the man really did follow through with what he looked like he wanted to.

Harrison walked over to Petunia with a scowl on his face and waited for the harsh looking woman to tell him what needed to be done. He found himself watching her act as though she were some queen with disdain in his eyes. Noticing this, she immediately glared at him and acted as though she somehow superior to him. It was utter bullshit but Harrison refrained from voicing this aloud.

“Make us some eggs and bacon,” Petunia scowled, “Make sure you do not burn them and make plenty for us. I don't want to see your dirty hands touching any of the food.

Harrison silently nodded and rolled his eyes when her back was turned. The letter felt like it was burning through his back pocket and he couldn’t help but anticipate what it would say. He frowned to himself and remembered it could all just be a cruel trick and decided to forget about it until later when he could open it without the Dursley’s around.

While Harrison robotically set up the pan for eggs and bacon and relied on his muscle memory, he worriedly checked up on Harry in his mind. He was concerned when he realized Harry was too far in his mind to reach. Deciding he could draw him out later when it was time to read the letter, he continued to fry the eggs and bacon. The smell caused his stomach to growl and he stole a look behind him to make sure no one was there before he tried to sneak a piece of bacon. He had been absolutely starving and was learning to treasure any piece of food he could get his hands on. He hadn't anticipated anyone noticing him take some of the bacon.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING!”

Harrison flinched and dropped the bacon while whipping around to see who had caught him. Aunt Petunia’s quickly reddening face was scowling down at him and he could feel Harry’s fear building up at the sight of her. Harrison internally cursed at Petunia and felt himself grow angry at how scared she always cause Harry to be. Harrison hadn't been manifested until Harry had turned 6 and that was only when the Dursley's had been the worst. He missed the early years where it was terrible for Harry and Harry still refused to talk about those day. He suddenly came out of his thoughts at the sound of someone screaming.

Startled, he looked back up at Petunia in shock at the sight of her hair. Petunia’s dark hair had caught on fire and Harrison could only gape at the fire her hair was being devoured by while she screamed.

_It wasn’t as though she hadn’t deserved it_ , he thought silently to himself.

Harrison could hear Harry outright laughing at her pain in the back of his mind, but he immediately paled at the sight of Vernon running over here with a furious look on his face. Harrison stopped his gaping and rushed to find some water to pour onto Petunia’s hair but when he turned around he saw that the fire had already been put out. He winced when he realized he had used his freakish powers to put it out himself and knew this wasn't going to end well.

Looking up he could see Vernon’s red face furiously marching over here yelling profanities but he couldn’t focus on what he was saying. A buzzing sound filled his ears and he could feel his control slipping. Harry was fighting for the control and Harrison was unsure about whether or not he should give him free reign when he was obviously losing any control he had over his anger. It was too late for him to decide when Harry had surged forward and taken control and with a white, blinding light, Harrison found himself watching everything through the eyes of Harry again.

Harry glared back up at Vernon’s frozen body and saw panic flare in his eyes. Before Vernon could even bother reaching over and grabbing them Harry had somehow stopped him. Petunia stood behind Vernon looking terrified and suddenly Harry’s eyes seemed petrifying. All Harry could think about was how Vernon had been about to hurt Harrison. He will never allow him to hurt Harrison the way he hurt him. He refused. The rage was blinding and Harry found himself unable to think straight. Vernon was right there. It really wouldn't take much to kill him.

Harrison could feel Harry becoming unhinged and knew if he did nothing then something bad was going to happen and Harrison couldn’t let Harry do that to himself. Steeling himself, Harrison started to force him way to the front and fought Harry for control.

 _Harry. HARRY!_ , Harrison yelled trying to grab his attention, _Calm down Harry, I’m okay. See._

“Harrison?” Harry mumbled.

_Harrison sighed in relief_

_Yeah, it’s me. You need to calm down_ , Harrison said in a soothing voice, _Can you let me take over?_

Harry silently fell back into his mind. He numbly looked at the frozen bodies of Petunia and Vernon. They seemed afraid of him and harry didn't know what to feel about that. Harry continued to watch Harrison walk over to their cupboard and grab a bag to start stuffing all their* things in.

“We have to leave,” Harrison calmly informed Harry, “We can’t stick around here anymore. We can grab some of their money and pack some food and other essentials.”

Harrison felt Harry nod in the back of his head and continued to look around the house. Walking into Vernon and Petunia’s room, he looked around and went through their drawers for money. He finally found Vernon’s wallet in his jacket pocket and grabbed a few hundreds before nodding to himself and exiting the room. Harry had closed himself off in a part of their* mind where he couldn’t reach him.

Walking into the kitchen with a bag over his shoulder, Harrison nonchalantly passed the petrified bodies of Vernon and Petunia. He absentmindedly realized Dudley was probably in his room hiding from them* but he couldn't bring himself to care. Searching the pantry. He found a box of crackers and some chewy bars. He stuffed those into his backpack and grabbed a few water bottles too. He glanced back at Vernon and Petunia and pursed his lips in thought. He didn’t know what to do with them and instead decided to think about that later.

Walking back up the stairs of 14 Privet Drive, Harrison decided he should probably check on Dudley and make sure he hasn’t died of fright and see what he was doing. When he reached the door of Dudley’s room he heard some shuffling and shrugged before opening the door. He nonchalantly looked around the room before resting his eyes on Dudley. Narrowing his eyes he saw Dudley hiding something behind his back he slowly started to approach him, intent on finding out whatever it was.

“What’s behind your back Dudley,” Harrison said with a menacing smirk, “I hope it’s nothing that belongs to me. I would hate for what happened to your parents to happen to you.”

Harrison soaked in the frightened look Dudley had on his face and crouched down to look him in the face from where he was sitting on the floor. He watched Dudley shake in fear and allowed a second of silence before continuing to speak.

“You wouldn’t mind sharing what you have with me,” Harrison smiled sweetly, “would you?”

He felt Harry fill up in glee at the sight of Dudley cowering from them from where he was hiding inside of his mind. Harrison watched as Dudley's arm slowly moved from behind his back to reveal what he had been hiding from Harrison. An opened letter was in his hand and tremors were evident when Dudley reached over to give it to Harrison. Harrison frowned at the letter, remembering it was the same one from this morning and felt his back pocket, finding it empty.

“How’d you get this,” Harrison said with narrowed eyes.

“I-I took it out of your back pocket while you were c-cooking,” Dudley said with a gulp, “I told d-dad about it after reading i-it”

Harrison’s face darkened when he realized that must’ve been why Vernon was downstairs when Petunia’s hair had caught on fire and that’s how he must’ve found out. Harrison scowled and stood up over Dudley.

“Don’t leave this room,” Harrison growled at Dudley before turning to walk out.

With one last look at Dudley’s room, Harrison grabbed the letter and left. Closing the door, he concentrated on it until he heard a click. Grinning to himself he walked down the stairs with a sense of achievement. He only glanced at the kitchen where Petunia and Vernon were still petrified in before walking right out the door. He didn't really know how to undo whatever Harry had done to them and why should he in the first place. Looking around as he stepped out, he saw no one outside and waited until he heard the door click before continuing on.

_What are we going to do now?_ Harry questioned.

“Let’s find some food first,” Harrison replied, “We can worry about the rest later.”

fifteen minutes of aimless walking they* finally found a grocery store to grab some food from. Harrison sighed in relief when he finally got out of the hot sun and into the cool store. Looking around, he spotted a shelf with some sandwiches and decided to grab a ham and cheese sandwich before going to the counter to pay for it. The girl at the counter looked to be 17 and had short blue hair with a few piercings. Smiling politely, he quickly paid for the food and exited the store.

“Let’s go find a bench to sit down at and then read the letter to who sent it and why,” Harrison mumbled to Harry.

Feeling Harry agree to that, he continued to walk down the sidewalk until he found a small park with some benches 10 minutes later. Sitting down he grabbed the letter out of his pocket and took it out of the envelope before unfolding it. Grabbing a sandwich to bite into, he began reading the letter before immediately choking on the food in his mouth.

“WHAT THE FU-” 

Harrison immediately cut himself off at the look a mother gave him while pushing her stroller. He blushed while mumbling an apology to her before getting back to the letter. His wide eyes stared at it blankly while he felt Harry yelling profanities incomprehensibly in their head. Blinking, he got a hold of himself and continued to read and reread the letter over and over again.

“Harry?” Harrison spoke numbly, “We're wizards?"

 _Unless you’ve forgotten how to read_ , Harry replied sarcastically, _I think that is what the letter obviously says._

_“Shut up,” said Harrison with a glare, “I’m not stupid.”_

__The past says otherwise._ _

_“Anyways,” Harrison said annoyed, “How are we even supposed to owl them back! I obviously don’t have an owl. Where do you even get owls?!”_

_Yeah that sounds like it’s going to be a problem_ , Harry said pursing his lips, _Also you should probably stop talking out loud. People are giving us weird looks._

Harrison immediately blushed in embarrassment and looked up to see people giving him weird looks.

‘You could’ve let me know earlier,’ Harrison scowled in his head, ‘Now I look like I’ve gone insane or something!’

The second those words came out of Harrison’s mouth Harry quickly closed up and retreated from the front of their* mind. Realizing what he had said, Harrison tried to apologize or reassure Harry but it was too late and Harry was already too far gone into their* mind. With a frown on his face, Harrison continued to look around before deciding they’ve* been in one place for far too long. He stood up with his sandwich and letter in hand and continued down the busy sidewalk while trying to think of a way to get a letter back to Hogwarts.  
______________________________________________________________________________________________

“This is stupid,” Harrison mumbled to himself and Harry, “We're* going to look like complete fools.”

 _It’s not a big deal_ , Harry replied with a roll of his eyes, _Just ask them if they have a dumb owl and if they do then get the damn thing_

Harrison entered the building called Pets and More with a huff and looked around for someone who worked there. He noticed a man in a staff uniform putting things away on a shelf why pulling a cart around. Raising his hand, Harrison tried to catch the man’s attention. Reading the name tag on the mans uniform he decided to call out with his name.

“Um,” Harrison said, “Greg? Yeah, hi, can you help us- me with something?”

“Yeah, what’s up,” Greg replied while turning around to face Harrison.

“I was wondering if you sold owls here,” Harrison said with a wince, “I’m looking for an owl to keep as a pet..”

Harrison trailed off as the man looked at him blankly and tried not to break out in awkward laughter when he was already doing such a good job at looking weird. Laughing awkwardly probably wouldn't help his case.

“I mean,” Greg said after a second, “We have a few but I don’t think I’m gonna be able to sell you any.”

“What- why?”

“You’re only a kid,” Greg deadpanned, “I need you to bring an adult with you to get an owl. I can’t just give a random little kid a pet without their parent’s permission.”

“Can I at least take a look at them,” Harrison said while trying to think up a solution, “So that I could let my parent’s know if I found one I’d want.”

Greg turned around with a nod and gestured for Harrison to follow him. Looking around at all the different animals and toys around the store, they finally reached a door with the word birds on it. Harrison peered through the door while Greg unlocked it and noticed a few owls in there, including different types of birds. They were all separated but each had enough space to fly around a little.

“Here’s where we keep our owls but we only have like six of them,” Greg said while gesturing to the owls, “People don’t usually look for owls to keep as pets.”

Harrison absentmindedly nodded while walking up to the owls. Peering through the different cages, he felt Harry suddenly perk up and looked to see what caught his attention. Unlike the other owls, this one was just sitting there silently and it’s eyes seemed to be piercing right through his soul. It gave an air of intelligence and it’s beautiful feathers seemed to glisten in the light. They were sleek and black.

“What kind of owl is this?” Harrison asked, pointing at the owl that had caught his and Harry’s attention.

“It’s a black barn owl,” Greg replied, “It’s a one in the million type of owl. I’ve never seen another black barn owl other than this.”

Harrison looked back at this owl in interest and watched it’s intelligent eyes glance between him and Greg as though it was following their conversation.

 _This one_ , Harry whispered in awe, _We need to get this one._

‘Yeah I agree,’ Harrison replied in his head, ‘There’s something special about her. She’s beautiful.’

A ring sounded somewhere in the store, startling Harrison out of his head. Greg looked up and glanced at Harry before mumbling something and walking out of the door. Watching as Greg’s back turned the corner and went out of sight, Harrison felt himself tense in anticipation at what he was about to do.

Harrison whipped around to look at the owl. It seemed as though the owl knew what he was going to do. Harry concentrated on the lock and waited for the click before cautiously opening the cage door. Harrison quickly looked around before grabbing a pair thick gloves so that he could allow the owl to hold onto his hand without it hurting.

Slowly edging his glove into the cage, he watched in astonishment as the owl immediately jumped onto his hand and held on. Quickly exiting the room he looked around and continued to follow the path he had taken to get to the owls. Conscious of the owl on his hand, he made sure to make no abrupt movement when walking. His head whipped around as Greg hurried past him on the opposite side of the shelf that was hiding Harry from view. Holding his breath, he finally speed walked the rest of his way and quickly exited, but not before he grabbed a cage and dome food for the owl.

Ignoring the weird looks people were giving him, he continued down the street and ignored the yelling that had erupted from the store he had just left. He glanced down at the owl before deciding to kneel down and set the cage down on the ground. Opening the cage, he tried to coax the owl into the cage and smiled at her when he closed it on her. He quickly gave her some food before continuing down the street.

‘What now?’ he quietly asked Harry in his head.

Harry was practically buzzing in excitement when he answered him.

 _Now we write them back,_ Harry answered happily, _Just imagine! We’re gonna meet people like us. We won’t have to hide our magic. Magic is what we have! We won't be Freaks!_

Harrison smiled fondly at the childish happiness Harry had. It had been a long time since he saw Harry act like a child. The Dursleys had stripped him of his innocence, but Harrison is going to make sure Harry can be happy from now on. He’s not gonna let anyone mess that up for Harry again. Never.

‘What do you want to name the owl?’ Harrison questioned Harry with a grin.

 _Her name,_ Harry replied in excitement, _will be Liberty._

_Liberty: the ability to do as one pleases_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You might've noticed the stars I've been leaving in their. I'm just pointing out how Harry has started to refer to himself as they/them. I'd like to make it known that Harrison isn't an actual person. It's just something Harry has made up to help him cope with the traumatic experiences he has gone through. That doesn't make Harrison any less real to Harry though. As Dumbledore once said, "Of course it is happening inside your head Harry, but why on Earth should that mean that it is not real.". Also I am well aware I have a dumbledore bashing tag on this fic but I might remove that later. It's still up for debate. Anyways, thanks for reading! Feel free to leave a review or any suggestions and tips. Till next time - RM


	3. Leaky Cauldron

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3 updates in one day, that's not bad. No warnings this time. Enjoy - RM

_Zoophilist: a lover of animals; a person concerned with the rights of lower animals and their protection from abuse_

**Journal Entry:** I love animals. They can be much nicer and more understanding than humans. Maybe it;s because I’m not human. Maybe that’s why they understand me better than other humans can. The Dursleys were right. I’m not human, I’m a freak.

_Freak: a person, animal, or plant with an unusual physical abnormality; Harry Potter_

“How the hell is that supposed to work,” exclaimed Harry in an exasperated voice, “How would she even know where to go!?”

Harry and Harrison were about to their wits end and found themselves arguing about how to send a letter back to Hogwarts. Liberty was watching them bicker with amusement gleaming in her eyes. Her sleek, black coat of feathers was glistening in the afternoon sun. They were in the middle of a park and other people found themselves avoiding the little boy and his owl while the boy talked to himself. Apparently Harry had forgotten to speak back to Harrison in his head.

 _Hey Harry_ , Harrison mocked, _Maybe you should stop talking out loud. People are giving us weird looks._

Harry abruptly stopped talking and scowled at Harrison. Harrison only smirked in reply and continued to try and explain himself. 

_Listen_ , Harrison tried reasoning, _I think Liberty is somehow magical! Look at her-_

Harry glanced back at Liberty and met her intelligent gaze with a frown. The gleam in her eyes told him she understood what was going on, but he was unsure about sending her off with a letter. He didn’t want to risk losing her and had already grown attached to her knowing eyes.

‘What if she doesn’t come back,’ Harry asked meekly, ‘I don’t want to lose her’

 _Then you lose her_ , Harrison replied with cold eyes, _We aren’t allowed to get attached to other things and you should know better._

Harry looked down and clenched his fists while he considered Harrison’s words. Looking back at Liberty where she was sitting on the bench next to him, he smiled weakly at her before taking out the letter he had written to Hogwarts. He had bought a letter and envelope at a post office and written it there with a borrowed pen. 

“Here girl,” Harry said, handing the letter over to her, “Make sure you find your way back to us, okay?”

Liberty seemed to nod her head and nuzzle his hand before taking off. He watched her fly off until she was only a speck in the sky. Sighing, he got up and resolutely ignored Harrison while he turned to go look around the park. It was evening time and he didn’t feel hungry enough for dinner so he ended up wandering around until it became dark. 

Harry refused to leave the park to find somewhere to sleep. He was worried Liberty wouldn’t be able to find him if he left where she last saw him. Harrison’s words went unheard while Harry locked him out of his mind. Harrison might’ve been right about getting attached to other things, but that didn’t mean Harry had to like it.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry groaned and tried to stretch causing himself to fall off the bench with a thump.

“Ugh,” he groaned, “That really fucking hurt, dammit.”

Hearing a small giggle, Harry sat up startled. He looked over to see a little girl kneeling right next to him.

“Are you okay?” the little girl asked while trying to mask her laughter.

“Yeah,” he grinned, “I’m okay, don’t worry.”

Examining the girl, Harry noticed he saw no adults around and pursed his lips in contemplation. He stood up and tried to dust himself off before turning to look back at the girl who was still curiously looking up at him.

“What’s your name?” Harry asked, “My name’s Harry.”

“Liberty,” answered the little girl.

Harry pursued his lips at the weird coincidence for a few seconds before shaking his head and dismissing it.

“Hello Liberty,” said Harry with a smile, “How old are you?”

The girl seemed to think about it for a bit before holding up six fingers. Harry smiled at her and lifted ten fingers up to her.

“My birthday is gonna be in 4 days so I’ll be 11 soon,” Harry informed her, “So where are you parents, Liberty?”

The girl grinned before pointing right at Harry.

“I think you misunderstood my question,” Harry said nervously, “I meant where is your mom or dad?”

“You are my guardian,” the girl pouted, “Have you forgotten me already?”

Harry blinked in shock and tried to make sense of what was happening. He pinched himself quickly before thinking that letting Harrison back into his head might be something he should do. Wincing at the rush of noise when he unlocked his mind to Harrison, Harry quickly began explaining the situation to him.

 _WHAT_ , Harrison said in complete shock, _WHAT DO YOU MEAN LIBERTY IS A LITTLE GIRL!?_

‘Exactly what I just said,’ Harry replied, ‘I don’t know how this happened.’

 _You go without me for only one night and this happens_ , Harrison mumbles in frustration.

‘This isn’t even my fault!’ Harry glared at Harrison.

Harrison barely spared him a glance before going back to looking at Liberty. Liberty was sitting back on the bench and still looked like a little girl while she continued to swing her legs back and forth with long, silky black hair. Her small nose scrunched in concentration and her green eyes looked around at everything around them before stopping to rest on Harry.

Harry absentmindedly noticed that she could pass as his little sister when she suddenly shoved a letter at him. Blinking for a second at the letter she was shoving into his hands, he shook himself out of his stupor before grabbing it.

He could feel Harrison still mumbling theories in the back of his head about how Liberty was a little girl while Harry opened the letter. 

______________________________________________________________________________________________

_Uniform_

_First-year students will require:_

_Three sets of plain work robes (black). One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear.  
One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar). One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings). Please note that all pupil’s clothes should carry name tags._

_Course books_

_All students should have a copy of each of the following:_

_Miranda Goshawk, The Standard Book of Spells_

_Grade A History of Magic, Bathilda Bagshot._

_Magical Theory, Adalbert Waffling_

_A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration, Emeric Switch_

_One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, Phyllida Spore_

_Magical Drafts and Potions, Arsenius Jigger Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Newt Scamander_

_The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection, Quentin Trimble_

_Other equipment:_

_1 wand._

_1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)_

_1 set glass or crystal phials 1 telescope._

_1 set brass scales_

_Students may also bring an owl or a cat or a toad._

_PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICK_

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry blankly stared at the letter for a few minutes while he felt Harrison finally quiet down in his mind. Both of them were staring at the letter in horror and couldn’t help but think how bad this was going to go.

Looking back up at Liberty, Harry noticed she had been staring at them the whole time and couldn’t help but cringe at how stupid they must’ve looked.

“..Liberty?” Harry hesitantly asked, “Why do you look like a little girl? I thought you were an owl.”

“I am an owl, silly,” Liberty giggled, “You’re making me up in your head and projecting me into the world with your magic.”

Harry could only stare back at her with a dumb look on his face while he tried to understand what she was trying to say. She obviously realized this and frowned in contemplation. Harrison was still in shock in the back of his head and Harry couldn’t blame him.

“Think about it like this,” Liberty said, her eyes suddenly looking older than she did, “The other person in your head, Harrison, is something your mind has given you to help you cope.”

Harry’s eyes widened in shock at the fact that Liberty knew about Harrison and he completely ignored what she was trying to imply about the existence of Harrison, while Harrison's eyes widened in shock.*

“Your mind was scared of losing me,” she continued, “So you brought my subconscious into your mind and projected it into the real world. No one else can see me right now, only you. Your magic is aiding you though, so, if you were to concentrate then you could probably let other people see me”

“So,” Harry said unsure, “You’re real right?”

“Yes,” Liberty replied with a fond smile, “I am indeed real. My subconscious has been split. I’m still an owl but I am also able to communicate with you like this as well.”

A wide grin filled Harry’s face and he jumped up to hug Liberty. Liberty allowed herself another fond smile while Harrison felt himself frown and withdrew himself from Harry’s mind in quiet contemplation. Harry felt Harrison’s presence vanish from his mind but didn’t worry too much about it.

A few minutes later, Harry and Liberty found themselves on the park’s swing set next to each other.

“Is your owl self back on her way,” Harry asked while swinging his legs back and forth.

“Yeah,” Liberty replied, “Should be here by sunset with the list of your Hogwarts supply list.”

“Wait,” Harry frowned, “How did you have my Hogwarts supply list then?”

“I manifested it from my memory of your supply list,” she said while looking over at him.

After that, they continued to make small talk and learn more about each other. Harrison was still in the darkest corner of Harry’s mind where Harry could not sense him and was thinking about the implications Liberty had left for them. Liberty’s sharp eyes seemed to have noticed this but she said nothing and continued to talk to Harry. Biting his lip, Harrison could feel himself starting to unravel and quickly shut himself off. Harry should be able to take care of himself for a bit. Sending a silent goodbye to Harry, Harrison finally closed himself off.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry looked up and waved to Liberty’s owl form much to Liberty’s amusement. She giggled at the happy expression on his face and reached up to grab the Hogwarts supply list. Noticing the frown on his face when he was reading the list, she nudged him with a raised eyebrow wondering what was wrong.

“I don’t even know where I’m gonna get any of this stuff,” Harry admitted sheepishly, “I’ve never even heard of half of it.”

“Oh,” Liberty said with a laugh, “Don’t worry about that. I’ll show you where to get it.”

“Can we go now,” He said in excitement, “Please?”

“Hmm,” Liberty looked him up and down with a raised eyebrow, “First, we’re going to need to get you a change of clothes and I’ll need to teach YOu a few things about the Wizarding world on the way.”

Harry looked down at the clothes he was wearing with a pout. He was wearing Dudley’s old hand me downs that were definitely too big on him and were hanging off of his skinny and malnutritioned body. 

Looking up, his mouth dropped when he saw Liberty suddenly looking like she was 22 with short black hair and her still sharp green eyes. She was wearing white shirt with a red bulky sweater and hood. She wore black pants and a pair of white sneakers and a small necklace around her neck.

“I just had to re imagine my human look,” she said with a wink, “Come on, let’s get you some new clothes while I explain the Wizarding world to you.”

Walking with Liberty while she explained the Wizarding world on the way, Harry learned a lot. Blood was very important to many wizards and there were three main types of social statuses. Pureblood, halfblood, or muggleborn. Some wizards called muggleborns a derogatory word known as mudblood. That was because muggleborns were born by muggles and shared no relation to other Wizarding families. They considered muggleborns a threat because of the period in time where witches were hunted down and killed by muggles. There was a chance of the muggleborns giving up the location of the Wizarding world and leading the muggles to them.

Halfbloods were wizards or witches that were born of only one pureblood parent. The other wasn’t pureblood, hence the halfblood. Halfbloods didn’t have it as bad as muggleborns but they weren’t held to the same regard that purebloods were.

Purebloods, on the other hand, were supposedly the “best” of the three. The older the pureblood family, the more prestige they had. A few well known Purebloods were the Malfoys, Notts, Greengrass, and Black families. It’s considered rude to question another person’s social status.

“You, Harry Potter, are a halfblood,” Liberty informed him while browsing a clothing store’s shelves, “Your mother, Lily Potter was a muggleborn and your father, James Potter, was a pureblood.”

“I never knew anything about my parents,” Harry said with a self deprecating smile, “all I knew was that they had died in a car crash because my father had been drunk at the wheel.”

Liberty suddenly whipped around with a furious look on her face and Harry did everything he could to keep himself from flinching, but from the softening of her face he hadn't done too well at that.

“Your parents,” Liberty said, grasping his two shoulders and making him look her in the eyes, “Were one of the best people the Wizarding world has ever had the pleasure of  
knowing. They died to keep you safe because some _bitch_ couldn’t keep his mouth shut.”

Straightening herself back up she continued, “A dark lord who must not be named, vanquished them on Halloween and you, Harry Potter, vanquished him in turn. In the Wizarding world you are known as the Boy Who Lived and you should be proud to.” 

Nodding to herself, she grabbed another shirt off of a rack and added it to the cart Harry was pushing. He felt himself tear up at the fact that yes, his parents had loved him. The Dursleys had lied to him and tried to corrupt how he saw his parents, but now Harry knew better and would not allow them to control his life at all anymore. With a determined look on his face, he continued to follow Liberty around with the cart while she continued to tell him about the wizarding world.

Apparently, squibs were babies born in the Wizarding world without magic. Harry frowned when he found out they were usually cast out or shunned because of this and found it ridiculous when it wasn’t like anyone could control who got magic and who didn’t.

Soon enough Liberty began to inform him of the etiquette that was expected in the Wizarding world.

“Wizards were not supposed to touch another person’s wand, even if they had dropped it. Wands are very important to wizards and you mustn’t mess with them.,” Liberty lectured him, “With that in mind, you also must not keep you wand in a pocket because that displays loose manners and you should be taking very good care of your wand. We will get you your own wand when we go shopping for your supplies.”

“Make sure you don’t wear the pointed hat we will be getting for you out of Hogwarts or on non-special occasions in Hogwarts,” Liberty added after a second of contemplation, “It’s seen as old-fashioned.”

Harry nodded and continued to speed walk to keep up with Liberty’s brisk pace. They were almost done clothes shopping, but Liberty insisted on spoiling him with more clothes. 

“The Wizarding world’s transportation differs from the muggle world,” Liberty informed him, “There is flooing, apparition, and flying. Flooing is done by throwing floo powder into a wizarding fireplace and yelling out your destination before stepping inside. There is a whole floo network you can use to travel. Apparition is basically what muggles would call teleportation. It takes a bit to get used to and is very dizzying the first time. You have to be careful when you apparate so that you don’t get splinched.”

“What do you mean by getting splinched?” Harry asked her.

“It’s when an apparition goes wrong,” Liberty informs him, “You can leave a piece of your body or clothing where you had tried apparating from.”

Harry paled at the description but tried to brush it off before he could cause himself to panic over the thought of trying to apparate and getting splinched in the process. 

When they finally reach the end of their shopping trip and head to cashier, Harry found himself buying two coats, a sweater, five shirts, three pants, two shorts, five boxers, three tank tops, two hoodies, a pack of ten socks, a pair of sneakers, and boots. He also ended up with two pairs of finger less gloves, a piercing kit with earrings, a cap and beanie, and a necklace. Liberty had also tried to get him new glasses but Harry refused and insisted if she tried then he would put more of this stuff away too.

Harry rolls his eyes at the amount of stuff he was getting and ignored Liberty’s smirk while he grabbed his wallet to pay for the stuff. It cost almost 200 dollars in total and Harry could feel Liberty continue to smirk at his back while he was stuck carrying all the stuff out in bags.

“Stop with the glaring,” Liberty said with a roll of her eyes, “You needed some new clothes.”

“Not all this though,” Harry pouted.

Relenting to his furious stare, Liberty finally took some of the bags off of his hands while they walked down the street. Spotting a restaurant up ahead, Harry looked back at Liberty to tell her that they could stop by for some food when he noticed she changed into a younger girl who seemed about 18 years old.

“What?” she asked with an innocent look on her face, “I got bored.”

“Whatever,” Harry replied, “Let’s stop by the restaurant up ahead for some food.”

Liberty sarcastically saluted him with a mumbled “yes sir” and followed him into the restaurant. There weren't a lot of people around and It was pretty quiet. Taking the first table they saw, Liberty waved over a waitress and accepted the menus from her.

“What would you like to drink?” asked the waitress with a smile.

“A diet coke for me, please,” said Harry and he turned to look at Liberty. 

“Nothing for me,” said Liberty with a pleasant look on her face.

The waitress nodded and turned around with her short blonde hair bouncing up and down as she walked away. Both Liberty and Harry turned to their menus and waited for the waitress to return with their drinks before ordering some food.

“Can I get the Avocado Flip sandwich?” asked Harry.

“Yes of course,” replied the waitress with a smile, “ And what about you dear?”

“Oh,” replied Liberty, “I won’t be ordering anything.”

Liberty gave Harry a look that told him to not say anything until she explained it to him. Reluctantly, Harry just smiled at the waitress while she walked away before redirecting his gaze to Liberty.

“Why didn’t you order anything?” questioned Harry, “It’s been a long day. Shouldn’t you be hungry? I know I am.”

“Remember what we talked about,” Liberty sighed, “This isn’t my real form. You’re just projecting my subconscious into the real world. If I were to eat something then it wouldn’t have anywhere to go.”

“Oh,” Harry winced, “Sorry, I forgot.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Liberty giggled, “And anyways, here comes the food.”

Harry perked up at the thought of food and happily demolished the sandwich while Liberty watched with a fond smile. The sandwich was made up of chicken, tomatoes, lettuce, and bread and Harry could feel himself warm up. After a few minutes Harry looked up from his empty plate and gestured to liberty to help him pick up all the bags again. Waving the waitress back over here, Harry made sure to pay for the food and leave a tip for the waitress, who’s name he now knew was Grace, and left with Grace.

“We need to find somewhere to settle down,” Harry contemplated, “I can’t just live on the streets for a month waiting for Hogwarts to open up.”

“I have an idea,” said Liberty with a smirk, “Follow me.”

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry blinked fast, trying to make sense of how he had _just_ noticed a massive pub that apparently no one else could see. Besides him and Liberty he means. 

“This is the Leaky Cauldron,” explained Liberty with a smirk, “It’s protected by an enchantment that keeps a person from noticing it unless they are aware of its existence.”

“That’s pretty useful,” Harry said while examining the building.

“Come on,” Liberty grinned.

Dragging Harry into Leaky Cauldron, she made sure his hat was on correctly with a glance at his head. He was wearing a red shirt with black pants and a white sweater. He was also wearing a pair of black finger less gloves, his new piercings, and a silver necklace with a peculiar symbol on it. The symbol looked familiar to Liberty but she dismissed it while she dragged Harry over to the counter with a grin.

“Can I get two butter beers over here,” Liberty said while flagging a bartender over.

“Comin’ right up.”

Looking around Harry nudged Liberty, “Why are we here? I thought we were gonna find somewhere to stay.

“There are two reasons why,” said Liberty, holding two fingers up, “One, we can get a room here at the Leaky Cauldron and two. Diagon Alley is around here so we will be getting your supplies tomorrow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I starred a part of the story to so that I could elaborate on that. Harrison is coming to terms about the implications that point to him not being an actual person. There is a chance of him fading away one day. He's more worried about how Harry will cope with him gone. And he may be feeling a little jealous now that Liberty is here lmao. DW he'll be back later.
> 
> Thanks for reading this chapter and feel free to leave reviews or kudos. Till next time - RM


	4. Gringotts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello and good afternoon! Here's chapter 4. No warnings needed. Enjoy - RM

_Silence: complete absence of sound_

**Journal Entry:** Harrison has been quiet all day. I don't know if I should be worried. It’s not as though he’s always around every minute of everyday, but it’s been a while since the last time he had gone silent for so long. I hope he’s okay. No one else besides me, and now Liberty, know about Harrison. I don’t think they’d believe me. They’d just call me insane.

_Believe: accept (something) as true; feel sure of the truth of_

Liberty grinned viciously at the scowl on Harry’s face. She was again, in the form of a six year old despite Harry’s protest. She could be seen wearing a white dress with her necklace and sandals. The dress was frilly at the bottom and pretty long. Her sandals were a nice auburn brown and her silver necklace had a small blue flower on it.

“What if I need an adult figure so that I can get something that needs a parent’s permission,” Harry complained in a huff.

“Then I’ll just transform into an adult,” Liberty said with a roll of her eyes, “You can’t say I don’t look absolutely adorable.”

Harry ignored Liberty while she twirled around in her dress and went to grab his own clothes. He picked up his sneakers, a pair of gray socks, black trousers, and a red shirt. He was already wearing his silver necklace and decided to leave his gloves for later. Turning to glare at Liberty until she left the room, Harry waited until he saw the door closed before he changed.

Harry winced at the squeal that left Liberty’s mouth when he exited the room and gave the woman exiting a neighboring room an apologetic look.. 

“I knew you’d clean up well,” Liberty grinned excitedly, “Let’s get some breakfast before we head over to Diagon Alley.”

Allowing Liberty to drag him over to a table, Harry glanced around suspiciously at anyone in the room. He still couldn’t bring himself to relax in such an unfamiliar place and wasn't able to sleep much last night. Liberty continued to chatter excitedly, oblivious to the looks they were getting.

It was pretty unusual to see two little kids to be on their own in the Leaky Cauldron with no adults around. Ignoring the looks they were getting, Harry continued to absentmindedly nod along with Liberty and mumble a response a every few minutes.

He looked up when he saw Liberty stand and sent her a questioning look.

“I’m going to go get you some food,” she explained, “I’ll be back in a minute.”

Harry nodded to her before she left. Feeling himself tense, he made sure to watch out for Liberty while she went to order some food. 

“Excuse me,” Harry heard a gruff voice behind him say.

Whipping around, Harry looked to see a big man towering over where he was sitting. He had long brown hair and a beard to match it with. The man wore a long brown coat with a belt. A quick glance back at Liberty showed Harry that she was still safe, but the same gruff voice began speaking again before he could call out to her.

“It’s unusual to see young folks like you ‘ere,” The man with furrowed brows, “D’you know where your parents are?”

Harry opened his mouth to reply but was quickly cut off by the same man before he could get a word out.

“That was rude of me,” the same man exclaimed, “My name is Hagrid.”

Harry blinked at the sudden introduction and silently tried to come up with a solution to this problem. If this man, Hagrid, found out he wasn’t with his parents he doesn’t know what would happen. He paled at the idea of being sent back to the Dursleys and could feel himself start to panic. Harry could do nothing but stare at the man with wide eyes while his breathing started to come out in shallow pants.

Before he could find himself in a full blown panic attack, a hand landed on his shoulder causing him to whip around and see Liberty behind him with a frown on her face. She looked like she was 22 again and seemed to have seen the predicament Harry had gotten into. She glanced down at Harry with a wink, allowing him to relax and calm down while she began to speak.

“Is there a problem?” Liberty questioned in a sweet voice, “It seems as though my younger brother isn’t quite comfortable around you.”

“I’m so sorry,” Hagrid replied, looking flustered, “I musta misunderstood the situation. I was worried fer him. I thought he had gotten los’.”

After a hurried apology, the flustered looking Hagrid excused himself with one more nod and left the Leaky Cauldron. Staring after him, Harry suddenly felt Liberty grab his face with her two hands and inspect his head.

“Looks like your hair covered the scar,” Liberty sighed, “Thank Merlin.”

“Why are you so relieved about that,” Harry asked, “It’s just a scar?”

“Remember when I told you that the Wizarding world knows you as the Boy Who Lived,” Liberty replied, “Yeah, well, you’re kind of a big deal here.”

Harry blinked in confusion.

“You are the first person to ever survive the killing curse,” Liberty sighed, “And that scar is proof of that.”

Reaching up to touch his scar, Harry’s eyes widened in understanding. 

“Basically,” Harry started, “If Hagrid had seen my scar then he would’ve realized who I was and made a big deal about it.”

“Maybe,” Liberty informed Harry with a shrug, “Anyways, I ended up not ordering anything when I saw Hagrid, so do you want to go to Diagon Alley and get food from there instead?”

Harry could feel his eyes light up in excitement when he nodded. Liberty quickly took his hand and led him to an alleyway that ended in a dead end. Looking around to make sure no one was around, she quickly transformed back into a six year old despite the glare that Harry sent her way.

“What are we doing here,” Harry asked in confusion, “It’s just a dead end.”

“We’re waiting,” Liberty replied and continued to elaborate at the confused look on Harry’s face, “We need a wand to get into Diagon Alley this way, but neither of us have one so we need to wait for someone who does to let us in.”

“Why can’t we just ask one of the wizards in the Leaky Cauldron to let us in,” Harry deadpanned.

Opening her mouth, Liberty found that she couldn’t find anything to reply to him with. Rolling his eyes, Harry straightened up from where he was leaning against the wall and started walking back over to the Leaky Cauldron.

Entering, he looked around the room for a potential wizard that could help him. He frowned when he realized most of them looked unfriendly, but perked up at the sight of a man wearing a purple turban and looking like the least dangerous person in the room. Walking over to where the man was seated at the counter, Harry quickly tapped him twice on the shoulder with a smile.

“What is it,” the man asked Harry with a scowl.

Harry blinked at the obvious hostility the man was wearing before shrugging it off.

“I don’t have a wand yet, but I need to get to Diagon alley,” Harry informed the man, “I was wondering if you could help us into Diagon alley.”

“Us?” the man asked.

“I’m here with my little sister,” Harry answered after a second of thought, “She wanted to come with me and see Diagon Alley.”

The man nodded after thinking about it for a minute. Standing up, he quickly reserved his seat before following Harry over to the Entrance of Diagon Alley. Reaching the end of the alleyway where Liberty was located, the man quickly pulled out his wand.

“Took you long enough,” Liberty told Harry, ignoring the scowl the man sent her, “Who’s this?”

“He didn’t tell me his name and I didn’t ask,” said Harry with a shrug, “We don’t really need his name anyways.”

Harry paused what he was saying while his mouth dropped at the sight of Diagon Alley. Ignoring the way the Purple Turban Guy had rushed off, Harry continued to step into Diagon Alley in shock. Liberty smirked at his face before dragging him along by his arm.

“Do you have the list of your supplies with you?” she questioned him.

“Yeah, it’s in my pocket,” Harry replied with a nod.

Harry handed his supply list over to Liberty while he continued to look around at Diagon Alley. Nodding to herself, Liberty decided that course books will be the first thing they grabbed. After that they could go get the first year uniform and then the other equipment they needed. First thing they needed to do, though, was stop by Gringotts.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry looked up at the tall building that Liberty called Gringotts. She told him it was a bank run by Goblins and that it was what most of the Wizards in Britain used. Wizards and Goblins also seemed to hold a mutual dislike for each other. The wizards refused to trust the goblins and the goblins found the wizards disrespectful. Rebellions were led by goblins against the wizards. 

Goblins were magical creatures that were seen beneath wizards despite the intelligence they had. They weren’t allowed wands even though they could use them and were well versed in wandless magic. They seemed similar to house elves in that manner.

“House elves,” Liberty explained, “Are creatures that enjoyed serving wizards. They're bound to their masters and can only be released when either their master dies or they are are clothes by their master. They usually enjoyed serving their masters so I wouldn’t call them slaves.”

Entering Gringotts, Harry marveled at the large marble room. With Liberty’s hand in his, he continued to walk down and watched as Goblins on both sides were sitting down and seemed to be concentrated at their work. 

Liberty pulled him over to the goblin far down at the end of the room and politely waited for the goblin to acknowledge them. The small wrinkly creature had a pointed nose and pointed ears with small bead eyes that sat behind some reading glasses.

When The Head Goblin finally acknowledged them with a sneer, Harry thought he had seen their eyes widen a bit at the sight of Liberty and in turn narrowed his own. He glanced at Liberty to see if she had caught that, but she seemed content on acting like she had seen nothing.

“Hello,” Liberty spoke with a smile, “We’d like to take a look at the Potter Vault.”

“Do you have your vault key,” the goblin sneered back.

Harry frowned at the goblin, but didn’t bother with a reply when Liberty instead widened her grin.

“No,” she replied, “Harry Potter never received his vault key, unfortunately.”

The Head Goblin seemed to ponder this before gesturing to another goblin to come over.

“Griphook,” The Head Goblin sneered, “Take Harry and have him get tested for his vault key. I’d like to speak to Miss…”

“Liberty,” Liberty answered for him.

Harry watched the exchange quietly and sent Liberty a look that she responded to with a shake of her head before being dragged off by Griphook. With one last look at Liberty, Harry turned and followed the goblin to get himself tested.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry looked around the office while the goblin, Griphook, sat down at his chair. Gesturing to a chair for Harry to sit, Griphook began taking out some parchments with a furrow of his brow.

“Your vault key is in the possession of Albus Dumbledore,” the goblin said suddenly, “It seems he has been accessing your vault for the last 10 years..”

Harry furrowed his brows at the unfamiliar name before speaking.

“Is there any way for me to reclaim my vault key?” Harry asked, “Why is this man allowed to access my vault? Is he a Potter?.”

“He is, in fact, not a Potter,” Griphook informed Harry, “Albus Dumbledore was given the vault key at the request of your parents. In their will they asked for Dumbledore to hold on to the vault key until another Potter was applicable to claiming the vault key.”

“So could I reclaim the vault key?” Harry questioned.

“After an inheritance test to confirm that you are a Potter,” Griphook explained, “I will grant you your vault key and full access to the Potter vaults.”

“Is there any way to do it silently without alerting Dumbledore?” Harry asked with furrowed brows, “I don’t want to bring any attention to myself.”

“I will have that arranged,” confirmed Griphook, “Let’s get your blood checked first.”

Griphook stood up with a bowl and knife in his hand. Approaching Harry, he handed over the knife and bowl before directing Harry in what to do.

“Use that knife to draw blood and allow only three drops of your blood into the bowl,” Griphook told Harry, “I will then use my magic to perform the inheritance test on you.”

Harry nodded before grabbing the knife and slicing the palm of his hand in one quick motion. He winced at the pain, but quickly allowed three drops of blood to hit the bowl in the goblin’s hand. Harry watched as the bowl seemed to glow in Griphook’s hand while the goblin concentrated. The goblin quickly went over to his desk and began writing down on a parchment while Harry patiently waited. 

With a flick of his wrist, Griphook sent a parchment to float over to Harry and waited for Harry to begin reading it. The parchment said as follows: 

______________________________________________________________________________________________

_Name: Harry James Potter  
Status: Halfblood  
Age: 10 years old  
Species: Magical Human  
Parents: James Charlus Potter(deceased), Lily Potter-Evans(deceased)  
Godparents: Sirius Orion Black  
Birth: July 31st 1980_

_Lines:  
Potter Line (by blood)  
Peverell Line (by blood on father’s side)  
Gryffindor Line (by blood on father’s side)  
Slytherin (unknown)_

_Living Relatives:  
Petunia Matilda Evans-Dursley (Muggle)  
Vernon Patrick Dursley (Muggle)  
Dudley Solar Dursley (Muggle)  
Tom Marvolo Riddle _

_Vaults:_

_Potter:_

_Vault 687-trust vault set up by James and Lily Potter (1,000,000 galleons, 50,000 sickles, seventy-five knuts)_

_Vault 78-family vault (various weapons, family heirlooms, family books, potion ingredients on status, portrait of James and Lily Potter, 700,000 galleons, 70,000 sickles, 10,000 knuts with interest)_

_Vault 456 (10,000 galleons, 500 sickles, 100 knuts)_

_Vault 67 (1,000 galleons, 200 sickles, 40 knuts)_

_Black:_

_Vault 711 (200,000,00 galleons, 500,000 sickles, 100,000 knuts)_

_Vault 500 (20,000 galleons, 2,000 sickles, 1,000 knuts)_

_Vault 811-family vault (books on dark magic, blood magic, necromancy, artifacts, 800,000 galleons, 7,000 sickles)_

_Properties:_

_Potter:_

_Godric’s Cottage in Godric’s Hollow England (spell damage)_

_Potter Manor in Wales_

_Lily Cove in Scotland_

_Prongs Apartment in New York, New York_

_Black:_

_12 Grimmauld Place in London_

_Black Manor in China_

_Black Cottage in Wales_

_Marauder Den in San Francisco, California USA_

_Black Villa in Paris France_  
_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Harry felt his eyes widen in shock and gaped at the parchment in his hands. He abruptly got shut his open mouth and looked up at Griphook.

“There must’ve been some kind of mistake,” Harry said nervously, “There’s no way I own all of this.”

“Are you doubting our capabilities,” asked Griphook with narrowed eyes, “It’s very insulting to us for you to think we would make any type of mistake when it came to your vaults.”

“No,” Harry exclaimed quickly, “I’m sorry, that’s not what I meant at all.”

Griphook’s eyes widened at the apology but he allowed a nod of approval before immediately getting back to business. 

“Your inheritance has been confirmed,” Griphook informed the still very shocked Harry, “I will immediately withdraw the vault keys from Dumbledore and allow you to claim it. Before you leave today, a goblin will be ready for you with your vault key.”

“Thank you,” Harry said gratefully, “I appreciate your help.”

“You're welcome,” Griphook said, “Now, how much were you looking to withdraw from your vaults today?”

“I’m unsure about that,” Harry confessed, “I haven’t had the chance to talk to Liberty about it yet.”

Griphook understood what Harry meant and stood up from his desk.

“I will go retrieve Miss Liberty for you,” informed Griphook, “Stay here and make sure not to touch anything.”

Harry quickly agreed and fell quiet when Griphook left the room. Looking around the room, Harry fidgeted in the silence and observed the amount of books in the bookcase behind Griphook’s desk. The lamp on the desk lit up the dim room and allowed Harry to see the mess of parchments on Griphook’s desk. Sighing, Harry continued to sit there a few more minutes before hearing the door open once again.

Harry looked over and saw Liberty being led into the room. He smiled up at her and felt his smile widen at the grin she sent back. She still looked as though she were six years old, but from the way Griphook addressed her it was safe to say the goblins understood what she was.

“Mister Harry Potter was getting ready to withdraw from his vaults, but requested that you were here to discuss the amount with him,” Griphook told Liberty while gesturing to a chair for her to sit down in next to Harry, “I will give you a few minutes to discuss this.”

Griphook quickly fled the room after stating this and made sure to close the door after him. Liberty immediately looked over to him and before she could say anything, Harry shoved a parchment into her hands.

“This is from the inheritance test,” Harry informed her while she scanned the words, “You won’t believe how much I inherited.”

“I actually do believe it,” Liberty said after a moment of silence, “The Potter family is an old magical family of purebloods, well until your mother of course, and they well off. You are the last of the Potters so any money they had went to you. Your godfather, Sirius Black, is also from a very old and powerful magical family. They definitely had a lot of money. There’s probably much more money in the vaults too. After sitting in Gringotts for 10 years without being withdrawn from, they’ve probably collected a lot of interest.”

Harry stared up at Liberty in astonishment while she continued to inform him about the vaults. It was all very overwhelming to him. He hadn;t realized how well off he really was. He had always thought his parents were some deadbeat drunks because of the Dursleys. He did have some questions about Sirius Black though.

“Who’s Sirius Black?” asked Harry, “He was mentioned in my inheritance as my Godfather.”

“Sirius Black,” Liberty started with pursed lips, “Was your Secret Keeper. Your parents had gone into hiding because of Voldemort and made Sirius Black their Secret Keeper. They used the Fidelius Charm to hide where they lived and where you were. The Fidelius Charm makes whoever is the secret keeper the only one who can reveal the secret. So when Sirius Black betrayed your parents, he told Voldemort where you guys were and that led to the death of your parents.”

Harry could feel himself grow angry at the thought of Sirius Black. He had never felt hatred like this before and he wasn’t about to let it go. With clenched fists, he fought to keep himself under control. He looked up at Liberty when he felt someone hold his hand and tried to bring himself to smile, but felt more like a grimace.

“Is he dead then?” Harry questioned.

“No,” answered Liberty with a shake of her head, “He was sent to Azkaban. It’s a terrible place where many bad wizards are sent. When they are released they usually don’t come out completely sane.”

They fell into a silence after that and couldn’t bring themselves to break it for a few minutes. A somber expression filled both of their faces.

“Anyways,” said Harry while clearing his throat, “How much are we gonna withdraw from the vaults.”

“I think we should withdraw just 500 galleons from one of the vaults,” said Liberty after some thought, “That should be more than enough for the supplies we’re going to be buying for Hogwarts.”

Harry glared at her suspiciously at the fact that she said more than enough for the supplies, but was interrupted at the appearance of Griphook.

“I assume you have finished discussing the amount you want to withdraw from your vaults,” announced Griphook while he moved to sit at his desk.

“Yep,” said Liberty in a cheerful voice, “We’d like to withdraw 100 galleons from Vault 500.”

“That will be arranged right away,” replied Griphook.

“Can we also purchase an endless money pouch, please,” Liberty asked suddenly, “I want it to be linked to Vault 67 and have it so that only Harry can withdraw from the pouch.”

Harry blinked at the sudden question and shot a questioning glance at Liberty before turning to look at Griphook to see what he would say about it.

“That can be arranged,” Giphook smiled, showing teeth, “For 100 galleons.”

“10,” replied Liberty with her sharp eyes.

“70”

“30”

“50”

“20”

Griphook’s eyes narrowed sharply, but he finally agreed to the 20 galleons. Liberty’s triumphant smile showed teeth and Griphook reluctantly nodded to her in respect. Standing up, Griphook gestured to the two of them to follow him.

They exited the room and were shown through the corridors to the large room they had entered at first. Harry glanced at the large tracks that he caught a glimpse of and nodded when he was informed that those led to the actual vaults. He looked ahead of him and saw a goblin waiting for them to reach the doors that led outside.

“Here you go,” said Griphook while the other goblin handed Harry a pouch and key, “The other 500 galleons you have decided to withdraw have been put into that puch. When that runs out all you will have to do is think about the number of galleons you want and they will be withdrawn from Vault 67 and appear in your hands. You can also keep the key in there for security reasons. Only you will be able to take anything out of that pouch.”

Harry nodded his thanks and after he and Liberty said their goodbyes, they both departed and left Gringotts.

“What time do you think it is?” Harry asked Liberty as they continued down the street.

“I think it might be around 3 in the evening now,” said Liberty, “We spent quite a lot of time in Gringotts. The amount of paperwork was dastardly.”

“It wasn’t that bad,” Harry said with a roll of his eyes, “You’re just a slow reader.”

Liberty scowled at him and quickly shot a petty middle finger at his back before catching his hand in hers while they walked. She could feel people looking at her in disgust at the middle finger she had thrown at Harry and rolled her eyes at them. She didn't give them any more of her attention.

"Come on," Liberty grinned at Harry, "Let's get you your wand."

Stopping in front of a tall brick building, Harry could feel himself vibrating in excitement. It was time for him to get his first ever wand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading this chapter! I will start working on the next chapter right away. Feel free to leave some kudos or comments. Till next time - RM


	5. Hogwarts Supplies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No warnings needed. Enjoy - RM

_Loud: with a great deal of volume; producing or capable of producing much noise; easily audible_

**Journal Entry:** I hate my head. It gets too loud. Why can’t it just stop.

_Hate: intense or passionate dislike_

Entering the Ollivander’s Wand shop, Harry immediately noticed the shelves filled with many different wands. The shop’s shelves were tall and vast making it almost seemed like the amount of wands here were endless. There was even a tall ladder attached to the shelves that rolled around them to allow people to reach wands on the highest shelves.

“Welcome,” Harry heard a voice interrupt his thoughts, “Thanks for coming by!”

Harry turned to face whoever had spoken and eyed the old man with a suspicious look. He felt unnerved at how easily the man had been able to sneak up on him. He was wearing an old looking suit with a coat on top of it and had thin white hair that seemed to poof up as though he had been electrified or shocked at one point.

“I’m here for my wand,” Harry informed the man quietly, “I’m going to be starting Hogwarts soon so I’ve decided to search for all my supplies today.”

“Ah,” the man replied in understanding, “Then you’ve come to the right place.”

“My name is Harry,” Harry said with a frown.

The man squinted up at Harry’s head and Harry could feel himself tense up in anticipation. His scar was hidden out of view under his black cap. After the near disaster with Hagrid, Liberty had insisted that Harry wore his hat. She was somewhere in Diagon Alley looking for the course books Harry was going to need. They both had agreed that it would be faster if she just looked for the necessary books while he got his wand.

“My name is Garrick Ollivander,” the man replied, startling Harry out of his thoughts, “I own this store.”

Gesturing to Harry, Ollivander went further into the shop and grabbed a few wands after a moment of contemplation.

“Here,” Ollivander spoke, “Try this one.”

Harry grasped the end of the wand and was only given a second to hold it before Ollivander immediately took it back with a shake of his head. The next wand he tried ended up causing a light bulb to shatter behind him. Another flick, with a different wand, caused the table to light up on fire and the wand was immediately taken back out of his hand.

It continued on like that. Ollivander would hand Harry a wand that he would either take back right away, or take back after seeing some sort of disaster occur. Harry was quickly growing tired of this and began feeling frustrated when he was still stuck trying wands with no success.

Harry looked up when he saw Ollivander suddenly pause and look at him. Feeling unnerved with Ollivander staring so intently at him, Harry tried clearing his throat and watched as Ollivander blinked once to himself before hurrying over to another shelf.

Harry noticed Ollivander disappear around the corner with pursed lips. He wondered if using a wand that didn’t accept would really be that bad at this point. Looking out the windows, he watched as people hurried up and down the streets. Harry smiled fondly at the thought of a family while he watched a large group of redheads hurry down the street with the mom at the front and the dad at the back. He could see the children bickering, but noticed the fond expression on the mother’s face as she watched over them.

He turned back around when he heard Ollivander walk back over to him and frowned at the somber look on the man’s face. Ollivander held in his hand a slender wood box in his hand and carefully pulled out a beautifully sleek wand out of it. It was a dark, almost black, purple with a tint of red to it.

“A holly wand with the core of a phoenix feather,” Ollivander said in a whisper, “Eleven inches long. Very curious.”

Harry’s brows furrowed at the comment Ollivander had whispered, but paid it no mind as he grabbed the wand from Ollivanders’ own outreached hand. Harry held in a gasp at the rush of magic that filled him and seemed to settle around him in a soothing energy. He could feel a smile threaten to break out on his face and marveled at the amazing feeling that came with the wand. He looked up and saw the contemplative gleam in Ollivander’s eyes but dismissed the observation.

“I think this is the right wand, sir,” Harry said to Ollivander, “I can feel it.”

With a nod Ollivander immediately put the rest of the boxes that littered the ground from when Harry had been trying the other wands with a flick of his wand and gestured to Harry to follow him.

“That will be 11 galleons,” Ollivander informed Harry.

Gathering 11 galleons from his money pouch, Harry handed them over to Ollivander. He glanced up when he felt Ollivander grab his hand with his own two hands and tensed at the grave look on his face.

“You must be very careful with that wand,” Ollivander whispered to Harry, “It’s own brother wand belongs to a great wizard who did many great things. Great, but terrible things. I see a potential in you, Harry Potter, but I have yet to see whether that will lead to a good or bad future.”

Harry’s eyes widened in shock and he took his hand out of Ollivanders’ grip before rushing out of the store. Ollivander continued to yell for him but he refused to listen to whatever words would come out of the man’s mouth.

Looking up and down the street, Harry tried to figure out where Liberty might’ve gone to get his books. Anxiety coursed through him at the thought of what Ollivander had said. Pursing his lips, Harry decided either direction was sure to take him farther away from Ollivanders. Going on a whim, Harry turned towards the right and continued to walk forwards while glancing around at all the shops.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

_You’re completely lost, aren’t you._

Harry felt himself jump at the voice and ignored the weird looks people were giving him at the giant grin that was suddenly sporting his face.

‘Harrison,’ Harry exclaimed inside his head, ‘You’re finally back’

Harrison chuckled at the excitement in Harry’s voice with a fond smile. He had never really left and has been watching everything happen silently instead. At the thought of one day having to leave Harry alone, he's been trying to be less active so that he could get Harry ready for that day. He could feel Harry vibrate in excitement and allowed himself another fond smile before getting back to the problem at hand.

 _Missed you too_ , said Harrison with a smirk, _But shouldn’t you be trying to find out where you are instead of eating ice cream._

‘I got hungry,’ Harry replied indignantly, ‘And I'm not lost!’

Harrison rolled his eyes at the response and instead took a look at where they were. Harry was still walking around, but now had an ice cream cone that he had bought while trying to find Liberty. 

_Liberty had left to go get your course books_ , Harrison suddenly questioned, _right?_

Harry nodded and gobbled up the rest of his ice cream quickly before wiping his hands off on his pants. 

‘Yeah,’ replied Harry, ‘Why?’

 _Oh, I don’t know_ , Harrison retorted sarcastically, _Maybe because of the book store that’s right in front of you!_

Harry felt himself blink once before sheepishly looking up to realize he’s been looking right at a bookstore for the last few minutes. It had large windows that showed shelves upon shelves of books. He quickly shut his gaping mouth before walking into the store. It suddenly felt calmer and quiet in the store compared to the loud bustling streets of Diagon Alley. Looking around, Harry noticed a lady at the counter. She was sitting with her blonde hair up in a bun and her blue eyes softly looking up to see him standing in the doorway.

“Hello,” she said with a soft smile, “Welcome to Flourish and Blotts. Is there something I can help you with?”

“No ma’am,” Harry declined with a smile, “Thank you.”

The lady nodded once before going back to the book in her hand. Harry looked around in awe at the amount of books in the shop before remembering what he was here to do in the first place and set off to see if Liberty was here.

Harry quietly browsed the shelves, finding himself picking up a few books here and there. He was reaching up for a book called _Beginning to Hexes and Curses_ when his elbow accidentally knocked another book onto the floor. Harry winced at the noise and hurried to pick it up when he instead noticed a boy who looked to be his age picking up the book for him.

Harry observed the almost pale color of the other boy’s skin and the wavy brown of his hair. The other boy’s brown eyes seemed to have a calculating gleam in their eyes and Harry immediately made sure not to let his guard down around the other boy. 

“Thanks,” Harry said to the other boy while accepting the book from his hand. 

“It’s no problem,” replied the other boy, “My name is Theodore Nott, yours?” 

“Harry Potter,” Harry replied without thinking. 

_Dammit Harry_ , swore Harrison, _You need to be more careful! You could've at least left the Potter part out._

‘It was an accident,’ Harry replied, trying to defend himself, ‘It would’ve seemed rude if I hadn’t given my name to him.’ 

Harrison only replied with a roll of his eyes and muttered a few curses. Ignoring Harrison, Harry looked back at Nott and realized the other boy must've said something to him while he was talking to Harrison. 

“What were you saying?” asked Harry sheepishly. 

“I was wondering if you wanted help looking for more books,” repeated Nott, “I could give you some recommendations.” 

Harrison fell quiet at the offer and mentally nudged Harry to accept. Feeling himself nod, Harry followed Nott while he pointed at various books and quietly recommended them. Nott explained what some of the books were about and voiced his opinions on a few. Harry still felt suspicious about the other boy, but when he realized Nott wasn’t going to bring up his last name at all he felt himself relax a bit. 

“But why would they ban _50 Dark Curses_ and not _100 Magical Pranks and Jokes_ ,” Harry asked, frustrated. 

“The Ministry has banned the use of any and all Dark magic,” Nott explained, “And in Hogwarts, anything that even seems like it is dark magic usually gets banned because of Dumbledore. He only believes in the light and refuses to partake in anything “dark” at all.” 

“That’s utter bullshit,” stated Harry, “I could kill someone with the tickling charm in _100 Magical Pranks and Jokes_ if I really wanted to.” 

At the confused look on Nott’s face, Harry decided to elaborate on what he meant. 

“In the muggle world,” Harry explained, “Tickling used to be a form of torture. Excessive tickling could lead to an aneurysm and death. If they’re gonna ban dark magic just because it can be dangerous, then they should probably ban all magic too. Honestly, I could just go on a killing spree myself with just magical pranks to show them how stupid they’re being. Dark magic shouldn't be banned just because of the risks of someone using it inappropriately. Light magic had plenty of it's own harmful spells. The ministry just seems biased and cowardly” 

Harry finally looked back up at Nott when he was done ranting and noticed the shocked look on his face. 

_“Nott?” Harry questioned, “Is something wrong?”_

“No,” Nott replied after a second, “It’s just that.. you’re Harry Potter.” 

Harry continued to look at Nott with a confused expression on his face and furrowed brows. With a sigh, Nott muttered something about oblivious idiots before gesturing at Harry to follow him to the counter. 

Looking up at the same Lady from earlier, he saw that her name tag said Alice. She smiled kindly at him before taking the books out of his hands. With Nott’s help, he had chosen a bunch of books from the store to purchase including Extreme Incantations, Book of Spells, The Book of Charms and Spells, The Dark forces: A Guide to Self Protection, and Severus Snape’s Copy of Advanced Potion Making. 

“That will be 10 galleons,” Alice informed Harry, “Make sure you have yourself a good day.” 

“You too, ma’am,” Harry replied. 

Harry handed her 10 galleons with a smile before picking up all the books he had just purchased and heading over to the door. Walking out the door, he continued to struggle with carrying so many books when he suddenly felt the load lighten. Looking over, he realized Nott had grabbed a few of the books with a raised eyebrow. 

“Thanks for the help,” Harry smiled sheepishly, “Do you wanna grab some food with me? I haven’t eaten much today and I’m starving.” 

Harry saw Nott’s eyes widen at the sudden invitation. He hoped he wasn’t overstepping any boundaries by asking Nott to grab some food and felt himself swell up with anxiety at the thought of looking wierd. Before he could panic over it though, he saw Nott open his mouth to answer him. 

“Sure,” Nott replied casually, “Where do you wanna grab some food from?.” 

“I don’t really know much about Diagon Alley since this is my first time here,” Harry told Nott, “So I wouldn’t know where to get any food.” 

“What do you mean,” Nott inquired, “How is this your first time here?” 

Harry glanced at Nott before shrugging. He didn’t bother explaining himself and it seemed like Nott knew he didn’t want to talk about it. After Nott looked over at Harry with that calculating gleam in his eye again, he started walking down the street. Hurrying to catch up, Harry followed Nott as they wandered around for a bit and talked about random topics before Nott stopped in front of a small building that resembled what a cafe would look like in the muggle world. Harry glanced at the sign hanging above the building with the words _Softea’s Coffee_ before following Nott in. 

The minute Harry walked in he could smell the different teas and food. The cafe had a cozy feel to it and Harry could feel himself relaxing. Harry followed Nott to the counter and allowed him to order for the both of them while he looked around. They quickly found a small, round table with two chairs to sit at. 

“I’ve come here for some light food a couple times with some friends,” Nott told Harry, “They have always found it enjoyable, so I thought you wouldn’t mind eating here either.” 

“It’s nice,” Harry agreed, “It has a warm and cozy atmosphere.” 

“Yeah,” Nott speculated, “I’ve always suspected that they’ve been using a charm to give such a light atmosphere. You know how the feeling just hit you in the face when you entered?” 

Harry nodded. 

“It seems more obvious when you realize it,” Nott continued, “It just felt a bit weird for the atmosphere to be this strong, but it doesn’t really bother me.” 

Harry looked around and noticed Nott was probably right. He could feel something in the air but couldn’t quite point out what it was. Shrugging it off, he looked up when he saw food floating over to them. 

______________________________________________________________________________________________ 

“-athering all the atoms that are already in the air and using magic to help them conform to what the wizard needs in transfiguration. If you needed to transform a rat into a tea cup then you would be breaking all the laws of physics, but what if you were only bending it,” Harry continued to lecture. 

He and Nott found themselves in a deep discussion about magical theory. Nott had been trying to teach Harry more about magic when he realized Harry had already done his own reading about it and had some strong opinions on it. 

“Others theorize that magic is based off of your emotions,” Nott pointed out with a furrow of his brows, “But I think if that were really true then it would probably cause magic to become volatile. Human emotion can become too unreliable. Going by that theory, then only a part of your magical abilities would be accessible to you based on your different emotions.” 

“I think it would be more reasonable to claim that emotions had a part in affecting magic, not that they were the foundation of magic,” Harry agreed, “Wizards are like evolved muggles.” 

Nott looked a little peeved at being compared to Muggles, but Harry continued nevertheless. 

“I mean, if a baby is born without magic you call them a squib and usually cast them out or shun them, but haven’t you noticed how similar they are to muggles? Both muggles and squibs are without magic. Yeah, maybe squibs are more knowledgeable when it comes to magic, but just because muggles aren't doesn’t make them any less valuable to us.” 

“Muggles are less advanced than us, though,” Nott added, “They would become a liability to us against some sort of dark wizard and with how many more muggles there are compared to wizards, we could get overpowered and it would be another massive witch hunt outbreak.” 

“They don’t teach you guys much about muggles, do they?” Harry frowned, “It’s not that they’re less advanced than us. Think about it like this. Muggles have their electricity and technology while we have our magic. They’re just more advanced in other areas while we’re advanced in different ones.” 

Nott pursed his lips in thought while both he and Harry continued down to the street on their way to the Leaky Cauldron. They had enjoyed eating together and found that they were quite comfortable in each other’s presence now.They found that they enjoyed talking about Magical Theory with each other. 

“Harry!” someone behind them cried out. 

Both Nott and Harry turned around to spot a little girl who looked to be six years old barreling towards them. Harry’s eyes immediately recognized Liberty while Nott chose to observe the little girl curiously. 

“Hey Liberty,” Harry smiled, “Where have you been?” 

“Sorry for taking so long,” Liberty apologized, “I finished grabbing your course books, but when I realized you weren’t done in Ollivanders I went and bought you the other equipment you needed besides your wand.” 

Harry noticed the trunk in her hand with a questioning glance. It was black and decently sized with three silver clasps attached to straps on the trunk to keep it closed. 

“It’s a magical trunk,” Liberty explained, “No one can open the trunk without the right password and I had someone place protective charms on it. It’s also magically enlarged on the inside so you should have more space than you need.” 

Harry nodded in response and shot a grateful glance at Liberty. He turned to Nott, remembering that he was still here, and opened his mouth to introduce them to each other. 

“Liberty,” started Harry, “This is Theodore Nott. Nott, this is Liberty.” 

Both of them turned to each other in a polite smile. Nott was obviously curious about why there was no mention of Liberty’s last name, but he let it go. 

“Harry,” Liberty spoke up, “We still need to get you your robes before we can go back to the leaky cauldron.” 

“Sorry,” Harry turned to Nott, “I forgot that I still had things to get from Diagon Alley. I hope you don’t mind if I cut this meeting short.” 

“That’s okay,” he replied, “My father will be expecting me back soon, anyways. Would you like to exchange letters over the rest of the summer?” 

“I’d love to,” Harry grinned, “Bye, hope you have a great rest of your summer. I’ll be looking out for your owl.” 

“It was nice meeting you,” Nott nodded to Liberty before walking away. 

Both Liberty and Harry waved to Nott as he departed before turning to get Harry some robes. He winced when he realized he was probably the only one wearing muggle clothes in Diagon Alley and sent a silent wave of gratitude to Nott for not commenting on it. 

“It couldn’t have taken you that long to get all that stuff,” Harry questioned Liberty, “It took you almost 3 hours.” 

“I got lost,” Liberty replied suspiciously, “Anyways, I can see Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions up ahead.” 

“Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions?” Harry inquired. 

“It’s a popular robe shop that most students get their Hogwarts uniforms from,” explained Liberty, “You can also purchase dress robes and travel cloaks from here, which is something we are definitely going to do.” 

Approaching the lavender colored building, Harry could already see beautiful robes in the big windows of the shop. Harry walked inside and followed Liberty to the counter. 

“Hi,” Liberty spoke up, “I’d like to get three sets of plain work robes, 2 dress robes, a pointed black hat, a black winter cloak with silver fastenings, and dragonhide gloves for the boy behind me.” 

The lady at the counter blinked in shock at finding a little girl who looked like she was still very young ordering robes on her own, but quickly got a hold of herself and responded in a polite manner. She was an elderly looking woman with her gray hair put up in a bun. She was a bit on the short side, but had a kind face and seemed to project an nice sort of vibe. 

“Would you like them to be personally tailored?” The lady inquired after a second of thought. 

Harry responded with a shake of his head before Liberty could say anything. He refused to have them tailored because he realized that would probably require him stripping down to his underwear. It wasn’t that he was modest or found it embarrassing, but after living with the Dursleys for so long, he had acquired many scars over the years and wasn’t willing to show them off. 

Harry ignored the questioning glance and followed the elderly lady further into the store while she introduced herself as Malkin. He looked around at the many robes that inhabited the shop and admired the pretty colors and advanced stitching they all seemed to have. 

“Here we are,” Malkins spoke up, “Is this going to be your first year at Hogwarts, sweetie?” 

“Yes,” Harry nodded, “I will be starting in a month. I still have to figure out how I’m going to get their first.” 

Malkin’s eyes furrowed in confusion at his small confession. She was looking through the basic school robes she had hung up in her store trying to find something that would fit the young boy. 

“What do you mean,” Malkin asked, “How do you not know how to get to Hogwarts?” 

“I was raised by muggles and didn’t even know I was a wizard until I got my letter,” Harry responded sheepishly, “I’ve kind of been winging it so far.” 

Harry watched as Malik’s eyebrows seemed to meet her hairline and flinched at the angry “WHAT” that escaped her lips. 

“Hogwarts is supposed to ensure that muggleborns would be taught about the wizarding world before coming to Hogwarts,” Malkin ranted, “It’s standard procedure for muggleborns to have their letter be delivered by a competent wizard who can explain the wizarding world and help them get all their things. They should’ve accompanied you to get your things from Diagon Alley and talked to you about how to get to Hogwarts.” 

_That’s weird_ , Harrison said quietly, _I think someone might have purposely sabotaged us._

‘What do you mean?’ murmured Harry. 

_There’s no other possible explanation for why a wizard didn’t deliver the letter to you themselves or take you to get your Hogwarts supplies_ , Harrison frowned, _They should’ve informed you on how to get to Hogwarts. They couldn’t have forgotten about you either, not when you are the supposed “Boy Who Lived”._

Growing confused, Harry could only listen to Malkin rant about incompetent wizards while looking over at Liberty to see that she was confused as well. Glancing at each other, Liberty cleared her throat in an attempt to get Malkin’s attention. 

“Excuse me,” Liberty spoke up, “Could you possibly tell us how to get to Hogwarts then?” 

“Of course dear,” Malkin smiled, “Now, here are your robes.” 

Harry now had three plain school robes, and two beautiful dress robes. One of the dress robes was long and would drag across the floor and was a beautiful dark cyan green. The other dress robe was black and v necked with a sort of shine to it. Malkin had also given him his standard black cloak with silver fastenings, dragonhide gloves, and black pointed hat. 

Following Malkins back to the counter, Liberty and Harry both yawned at the same time before grinning at each other in amusement. They watched Malkin rush around her counter looking for something until she finally pulled out a quill and parchment with a triumphant smile. She quickly scribbled something out and handed it over to Harry who read it aloud for Liberty. 

“Walk through the barrier between 9 and 10 at Kings Cross Station,” Harry read outloud, “The train leaves at 11 in the morning.” 

“After that,” Malkins said, “Just follow the other kids to Hogwarts. I’m honestly still so shocked at the incompetence shown by the staff of Hogwarts this year. Anyways, that will have all cost 23 galleons, please.” 

Harry smiled and handed over the 23 galleons, still excited at the prospect of going to Hogwarts soon. He decided right there and then that he would do his best in Hogwarts. At his old schools he would always have to dumb himself down so that it would look like Dudley was better than him at everything, but now that he had gotten away from the Dursleys and was going to a school away from Dudley, Harry could do his best without fear. 

“Thanks for the robes,” Harry grinned gratefully, “Have a nice day Madam Malkins.” 

“You too Mister Potter,” Malkin responded teasingly, “Do make sure you stop by again. I enjoyed your company and a lonely old lady like me would never turn down some more. Make sure you stop by for some of your own robes soon, Liberty dear.” 

“Of course, Miss,” replied Liberty with a smile, “It was nice meeting you.” 

Both Liberty and Harry left with smiles on their faces while Malkin continued to wave bye to them. Harry couldn’t remember ever having met a sweeter old lady. He and Liberty continued to walk until they finally reached the Leaky cauldron. Yelling out a greeting to the man he now knew as Tom at the counter, Harry fled to his and Liberty's room with her hand in his. 

“Now,” grinned Liberty, “You’re almost ready for Hogwarts.” 

“Almost?” Harry questioned with a glance. 

“You don’t think I’m gonna send you off to Hogwarts without making sure you can hold your own” smirked Liberty. 

_Hogwarts won’t know what hit them_ , Harrison spoke up with a shark-like grin, _We won’t let anyone mess with us from now on._

Harry felt himself smirk and realized by the time he and Harrison stepped into Hogwarts, he would make sure nothing stood in his way between him and whatever the fuck he wanted. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to keep Diagon Alley mostly canon and all the books that Harry mentioned will have been the canon compliant. I did add a restaurant because the canon Diagon Alleys left a lot of holes in it's description. I find it unbelievable that Diagon Alley would only have Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlour as a source for food. Besides that, everything else besides my OC should be canon compliant. Thanks for reading! Till next time - RM


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